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Chris Chinn among state ag directors pushing trade issues

Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Chris Chinn was with three other state directors of agriculture in Washington, D.C. this week talking to Trump administration officials about the importance of trade.

“We want to make sure that we have trade agreements that are in place that are strong, that they encourage free trade,” Chinn told Brownfield Ag News, “so that farmers and ranchers can make the good decisions to help bring that next generation back home to the farm or ranch.”

The directors met with U.S. agriculture trade negotiator Greg Doud about current NAFTA talks.  Chinn tells Brownfield 69 percent of Missouri’s agriculture exports went to Canada and Mexico last year.

“[Doud] understands why that is an important market and why we would be uneasy,” said Chinn, “however he thinks that it’s better to negotiate a good deal than to rush through a deal that may not be good for agriculture.”

Chinn says farmers in Missouri also want the best NAFTA deal possible, but want a market for what they’ll harvest this fall.

AUDIO: Chris Chinn (9 min. MP3)